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July 14, 2009

Missouri Smith

Missouri Smith started out as a character for a roleplaying game run in the Vampire: The Masquerade setting from Whitewolf. The idea of the game was to have characters without any powers (which was then changed to, slight, nominal powers) set against mighty creatures of the night. Over the course of a few sessions we would all die, one by one, and in the end the last survivor would be the "winner". Missouri, sadly, was the first to perish, but he was damn good fun right up to the moment he was brutally torn to shreds...

Anyways, Sho, Jordan and I set up our little group over the summer and began working away on projects (this is before those interlopers Dan and Phil showed up!). Our first was this:

Project 1:

Stage One

Write a character description that is the result of a mixture of multiple genres.

This description can be as detailed or as vague as you choose, but be aware of how that effects your artist.

- Lots of detail leaves little for your artist to add

- Little detail leaves too much for your artist to come up with alone

Feel free to reference other works in your description. IE, “Set in a futuristic world like the Terminator series, this character is a mix of cybernetic and bionic technologies”

Stage Two

Come up with a few drawings based off of the descriptions you have received. These drawings can be done in any medium/style/manner you choose, but keep in mind how the style interacts with the mood of the piece.

Don’t forget to do this for your own character description too.

Stage Three

Crit will be Thursday May 14th at 9:00 am. We will look at the differences and similarities between each character and the relationship between the works and their original descriptions.

Here's what I came up with:

-Missouri Smith-

He grew up watching the Indiana Jones movies over and over and over. He’s tried to model his life after his hero, but things haven’t gone quite as they were supposed to. He’s got the look, fedora, whip, six shooter, it’s all there. He’s done the research, kept up on current archaeological finds, and mythic artifacts. Unfortunately he’s having a hard time getting the girls, or the cash. Missouri Drives around in a beat up station wagon, complete with a tape deck that is constantly blaring Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a poster of Indy taped to the roof (on the inside). The back of the station wagon is loaded down with books, tomes, notes, maps; think Indy’s office compressed into the back of a station wagon. He’s had a few close calls, near successes, but so far he just hasn’t got the big win. On the plus side, he’s lucky as hell when it counts. In a jam he becomes a driver capable of out manoeuvring the best of Hollywood’s stunt drivers. When the chips are down he can shoot with an aim that could clip the wings off a fly. He’s honourable, exuberant and filled with energy. He’s also got a bit of a psychic flare, though that hasn’t kicked in enough to really grab his attention yet. His most important “power” is the ability to see things for what they could be. He can improvise on the spot better than any cub scout.

His first real adventure is just around the corner. It’s going to be a horror story with some pretty gruesome scenes, so keep things pretty gritty. On the other hand, there is going to be some comedy in the story (I mean really, Missouri Smith?) so do what you can to ensure that Missouri has an expressive face.

Which turned into:

I'm still making tweaks to it, but I plan to print this one out as the beginning of a series of Missouri Smith pin-ups. Watch the site over the coming months to see what else I dream up for Missouri.

Titled "Damn gun", I think this one speaks for itself.

Hopefully Sho and Jordan will post their versions of Missouri soon (and if they do, I will make sure to come back and link them here (Sho) and here (Jordan).